Guest Editorial

BY DWIGHT KEHOE | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Open Letter to Governor Christie: The Folly of More Gun Control

Dear Governor Christie,
As you are aware, the New Jersey Legislature is about to hand you a new set of laws concerning gun control and gun violence, which will be in addition to several hundred others already on the books. I am writing you with a request to veto that entire bill.

This request is made from the standpoint of common sense and the need to respect and abide by the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, that are, as a whole and in the opinion of scholars around the world, the most important reason for the strength, the freedom and the economic power which has made this country the best and most free land mankind has ever known.

The need to come to a decision based upon reality and common sense is imperative and it is quite clear that most of the existing gun control laws in this state are based upon neither.

During this period of heated discussion and angry discourse, in the wake of innocent men, women and children being murdered, its understandable that there would be many people who truly and sincerely want to see it stopped and the only thing that makes sense to them is “control the guns.”

This group of people is made up of, unfortunately, the uninformed, the uneducated and the easily manipulated. Regrettably, this aggregation of society includes State Senators and Assemblymen, those whom the people should be able to count on to do the required research and then legislate based upon not just United States law, but proper and concerted evaluation.

Getting angry is not the answer. Education and information is.

For those of us who have taken the time to learn and appraise, it is easy to become angry with those who have not. Especially those politicians who, by the act of running for office, profess to be informed and capable.

Don't misunderstand, that does not discount those who disdain the Constitution, those that despise individual freedoms and abhor the rights of the people while imposing as much government control over our lives as they can get away with. Those people are not ignorant nor uninformed. But clearly their progressive government agenda has and will always mandate their unlawful activity. It is everyone's responsibility to see that they do not succeed. You, our Governor, have the power and the responsibility to help curtail those people.

Governor Christie, no doubt you have been inundated with letters, data and facts, both manipulated and accurate, and from both sides. So I won't include here, those which you probably have seen, but will offer a few new ones that you may not know of or have considered.

Over 50 percent of gun law violations committed during another felony, such as armed robbery, burglary, gang type assaults and shootings, are plea bargained away. The percentages vary across the country but here in New Jersey they appear to be higher than the national average.

The result of that? Criminals who should be prosecuted for felonious breach of gun laws are more than likely not going to serve even one minute of time in prison for them. Meanwhile good men and women, people who have never broken any law, sit in prison while their children grow up without them because they may have left a round of ammunition in their rifle or stopped to get something to eat on the way to or from hunting or the range.

Every one of New Jersey's unconstitutional gun laws are felonies. Any violation of them by honest citizens will result in a criminal record that will impact them, their families and their livelihoods for the rest of their lives. This Governor, is just not right.

There are two new gun laws that I would support: 1. No plea bargaining of gun law violations for those violating them to commit a felony and a mandatory ten years of imprisonment on top of the sentence for the crime committed with the firearm.
2. Violations of gun laws not relating to another crime should be changed from felonies to misdemeanors or fines.

These two laws would get criminals off the street and keep them off, thereby making the state safer. And of course, would keep hard working, tax paying fathers and mothers home with their children. What a concept.

Governor, just one more statistic. An American, man, woman or child, has a .000,000,003 percent chance of being killed, unlawfully, with a firearm. That number includes crimes committed by gangs and drug dealers. Those are odds anyone with an iota of common sense would gladly take to preserve our Constitution, liberty and freedom.

For sure, if one's family members ever become part of that above statistic it would be devastating. But so too is the misery of any death or injury whether its from car accidents, work place mishaps or even one of the tens of thousands who die each year from medical procedures. The reality of life is that no one can ever be promised or guaranteed complete and absolute safety. Those that profess to be able to do that are either hypocrites or fools. Neither of which should be empowered to make laws for the rest of us.

Finally, if my rights to bear arms were not unconstitutionally erased by a ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and my rights to bear arms had not been violated, and if the time ever arose, where I would be in the position to put my life on the line and put my expertise with a firearm to use in order to save innocent lives, from either a mass murderer or a psychopath, I, as well as millions of other Americans, would not hesitate to do so.

However, with gun laws here in New Jersey being what they are, nothing could be done in a situation such as that. Except hope that the killer has abided by the ammunition restrictions and limited magazine capacities, imposed by New Jersey law, and as a consequence, runs out of ammunition before he runs out of victims.